In the span of two hours, a wave of recruits had nearly filled Syracuse’s quota at the offensive line position.

On May 16, offensive lineman Colin Byrne announced his verbal commitment to be a part of Syracuse’s Class of 2015. Ten minutes later, Byrne’s teammate and fellow offensive lineman, Sam Clausman, did the same. That evening, tackle Cody Conway picked the Orange. 

“There are only so many spots we have at each position,” SU recruiting coordinator Eric White said. “They see someone committed at O-line. That’s one less spot we have. And then someone else commits at O-line, and that’s another less spot that we have.

“I think a lot of that is when you’re seeing all these kids are going, ‘I better jump on if I want to have a spot left for me.’”

That spring afternoon, though, was only a microcosm of a wild summer in which SU and its second-year coaching staff wholly revamped its recruiting approach.

By July 15, Syracuse had 23 commitments for its Class of 2015, which at that time was the most for any Division I football program. On that same date in 2013, Syracuse only had eight commitments. In 2012, it was five. After jumping from No. 45 earlier in the summer, the Orange has the No. 28 recruiting class according to Scout.com — the highest it’s ever had.

“I see (Syracuse) on the rise,” said Class of 2015 linebacker Troy Henderson. “I see them kind of like everybody else in the (Atlantic Coast Conference). These players have something special.”

SU’s method for recruiting for 2015 was to start earlier and have recruits visiting earlier. White and the coaching staff didn’t want to wait for official visits to have potential recruits visit the campus. 

Because much of the staff was gutted following Doug Marrone’s move to the Buffalo Bills in 2012, the new assistant coaches wanted to expedite the entire recruiting process.

White said that after one year, they had a better idea of where they needed to recruit and what type of player they were looking for. And that allowed them to get a head start on actually finding them.

“All of it starts at the top with Coach Shafer and kind of trickles down,” White said. “With him it was: make a bigger emphasis on getting a big crop of kids up here and letting them see the facilities. Because once they see that and they get around everything, it kind of takes over itself.” 

The large quantity of recruits hasn’t led to a sacrifice of quality. While Syracuse has yet to land a four-star or five-star commitment according to Scout.com, it does have 20 three-star recruits, which is second-most in the country, behind only Mississippi State.

Though the numbers speak to a higher-octane system of recruiting players, it hasn’t forced those in charge to impart that sense of urgency on the athletes they’re trying to have commit.

“The way (Syracuse) recruits, they don’t pressure at all,” Class of 2015 commit West Lindor said. “They just give you a few basic details and then they just let you out on your own.” 

The size of the class, though, will also create competition.

It’s a double-edged sword, Class of 2015 right tackle Andrejas Duerig said. It might be harder to land a job, but it might make a player better.

“Even when you’re in high school ball, there are people trying to take your position — but they can also be there to help push you to make you better,” Duerig said. “That’s what I’m looking forward to.” 

But both he and White agreed that it won’t disrupt the camaraderie of the group that SU has assembled. They have a Facebook group together and have all exchanged numbers. 

Lindor said that all they talk about is football, and that he’s sure that the fight for playing time will be a strength of the class, not a weakness. 

 “I’m proud to say I’m with this recruiting class,” Lindor said, “because there’s a lot of big things coming with this class when we get to Syracuse.

“We have so many people.” 

Published on August 25, 2014 at 12:03 am

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